ALBANY – The play had two options and once Sean Payton spotted the clue he needed to see, his call should have been to take the ball to the outside. The Giants were on the Patriots’ 1-yard line in the second quarter of Saturday night’s preseason game when the offensive coordinator went against his own instincts.

“Against that look it would have been an outside play,” Payton said yesterday. “Then I thought we’re six inches away from the goal line, let’s hand it to Ron Dayne. If we can’t get it, we’re in trouble.”

There was trouble brewing when fullback Darian Barnes had two defenders to block as the Patriots guessed correctly and sent a linebacker crashing into the middle of the line of scrimmage, directly into the hole Dayne was supposed to enter. No place to go.

“I had to go through the guys to try to get in,” Dayne explained with a shrug.

Had to. Dayne’s first effort was one of those groan-inducing taps into the back of his offensive linemen, advancing not an inch as his legs churned in place. But then, Dayne by his lonesome plowed forward, pushing teammates and New England tonnage just enough to crash into the end zone for a touchdown.

“Did he have to get that on his own?” Payton asked. “Yes. That was good to see. That’s the yard maybe two years ago maybe you didn’t see him get.”

This is what the football life of Ron Dayne has morphed into, homage to a one-yard run on an evening when the talk is of other running backs, Sean Bennett and rookie Antonio Warren, a night when more discussion focused on a running back who wasn’t there (Tiki Barber) than one who was (Dayne).

There is no after-thought status attached to Dayne, it only seems that way. He’s again Barber’s caddy, as the Giants will feature Barber as the starting halfback, resting him to keep him fresh by using Dayne as a replacement, every third series or so. Dayne in his two seasons has averaged 12.8 rushing attempts per game, compared with 12.6 for Barber, but Barber is clearly the leading man.

And Dayne is clearly . . . what? If he was not a first-round draft pick, a Heisman Trophy winner and the top rusher in college football history, his 1,460 yards in two years would look just fine. More was expected, but more won’t be forthcoming unless Barber gets hurt.

“We’ll never know unless we give him the ball more times,” said Eric Studesville, the running backs coach. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people who would like to see it to see what would happen.”

Allowing Dayne to exist nearly undetectable is his flat-line demeanor, which could drain the caffeine out of black coffee. Following lunch yesterday, Dayne was asked about his role, his mind-set, his emotions and, here, in no particular order, were his responses.

“I can’t complain.”

“I can’t do nothing about that; I just got to go play when I get my opportunity.”

“Hopefully I’ll get my chance to carry a team.”

“Hopefully I can stay here, but if not I’ll go someplace else.”

The system works because Barber and Dayne get along wonderfully, Dayne shows no outward ego and he refuses to complain. “Ron has a great disposition and he has infinite patience, probably more than any other back in this situation,” Studesville said. “I don’t know if you’d have another back who was a Heisman Trophy winner in this situation and handle it as positively as he has.”

For those who want to know what’s new with Ron Dayne, the answer is familiar. Nothing to report.